The Giver
by MaddieMEnglish325
Summary: This is a story of the ending of the Giver.


My fan fiction writing is based on _The Giver_ , by Lois Lowry. Background: The last scene in the book expresses Jonas and Gabe escaping their community and trudging along in the middle of nowhere for days, hoping to find some sort of civilization. They come across a snowy hill, where they find a sled waiting for them; a familiar sight for Jonas. They begin sledding down the hill, steering into what they know as "Elsewhere". In the distance, they see lights glowing from house windows, accompanied by the sound of music. They anxiously sled down the hill into the unknown, hoping for the best.

I steer the sled as best as I can. I've only done this once or twice before, really. In my memories. All though that didn't really work out too well once before. I don't want to crash again, especially with Gabe on my back. He is so weak already. I need to find him help. I need to find us help.

Is that Elsewhere I see? Are there people like me? Will they know about where I came from? I feel my heart beat faster than it ever had before. Even faster than the Twelve Ceremony. Faster than when they skipped my name and I nearly died of a panic attack right there in my seat. The music and warm lights I see encourage me that there is hope. I need hope. I need a new beginning. We need a new beginning.

The sled begins to reach the bottom of the hill, I stick out my legs to try and skim my feet into the snow to slow us down gently. My face is freezing. The air is freezing. But I almost don't even care or mind too much because maybe this is our new home. Maybe they can help.

I stand up and grab Gabe, making sure he is snug within my arms. I try my best to keep him warm. The wind is howling, and the snow nearly reaches my knees. My shins are almost completely surrounded in this cold, white stuff; snow. Yes, I know it is snow. Is it always filled with snow here? Maybe it will go away. I trudge through the snow for probably 10 minutes, all though 10 minutes felt like 10 years. We slowly approach the town with glowing lights. I'm nervous.

I walk through a large black gate. Well, at least I think it was black. It was hard to tell since it was covered in snow. To the right of the gate, sat a large rectangular shape; once again covered in snow. I wipe the snow off of the front surface. "Green Valley". The sign said Green Valley. Is that the name of this town? What's a valley? I don't see any Green. They can see colors too! Finally.

I look around, take a deep breath and continue on. I walk Gabe and me through the large gate. Why was this gate open? Someone could easily escape from this place. Do they care? Maybe they don't. Maybe people come and go a lot, but where else would they go? I feel even more nervous now. As I walk, I am surrounded by houses, some smaller than others. I can see people through the windows. The lights shine through, lighting up outside just as well. Do I try and get their attention? I keep walking.

There are roads, plants, bikes and more (all though all covered in snow), it looks a lot like home. I see people walking to and from places. Some talking to others, walking with others, some are alone. I am so nervous. Do I talk to them? Gabe needs help. I need help. I need to get us help. They seem nice. Nice enough. Maybe they can help.

"Um… Excuse me. Excuse me. I need help. My brother, um, this baby… Gabe, needs help. We've been traveling for days… maybe weeks. I don't really know. Where…Where am I?"

The lady I approached seemed older. Much older than mom. Or dad. She looks like someone they would release soon back at home. Do they release people here? Oh god I hope not.

"Green Valley son. Where is your mother? You and your brother are going to catch a cold out here darling! Where did you travel from? I'm sure your mom is around here somewhere."

"No…no ma'am she isn't."

"Oh my. Come with me darling. I'll fix you up some nice hot chocolate and warm you up. We will find your mom don't you worry. It's a small town, she couldn't have gone far. She probably just got caught up with the shopping."

I follow her down the road a few blocks. I don't know what this "hot chocolate" is, but she said it provides warmth so I followed. She seems nice enough.

We approach a small house, I can tell it has a lot of plants in the front yard, all though the snow makes it hard to make out. I bet it looks pretty in the sunshine. Will there ever be sunshine here? She opens the door. I can't believe it. It's just like my memory...It does exist! This place must have it. This place must be different. Maybe they can help those at home! Maybe they can help mom! Dad too, everyone!

There, in the middle of the room, sat a full, green tree. It sparkled with red and green lights, decorated with a bunch of decorations...ornaments! Yes that's what they're called. I remember this. It's Christmas! There's presents scattered around the floor, surrounding the tree. The colorful packages, tied up with ribbon looked so familiar. Just how I remembered, just like my memory! The Giver was right. There must be love here too. Love was with Christmas, I remember! I remember feeling it in my memory.

"Christmas!?" I didn't mean to blurt out so loudly but I couldn't help it.

"Yes, Christmas. We must find your mom honey. She must be worried sick, losing her children on Christmas Eve. Where did you last see her? Sit down over here darling, I'll fix up the hot chocolate."

I sat down just as she said. I can feel the love. I don't know her but I can feel it. Or maybe I was feeling Christmas. Can you even feel Christmas? I can't remember what the Giver said. But someone else knows what it is. Finally. Finally my memories are shared. Others know it. They know Christmas, so they must know love too!

"My mom is back at home. In my community. I had to escape. With Gabe, he is very cold and hungry. I had to take him. They would… they would release him. I mean, they would kill him. I couldn't let them I just couldn't."

She stopped and turned towards me. She said nothing. She grabbed Gabe from my arms, bouncing him up and down, cuddling him. She turned around and grabbed some more things. I think she was fixing Gabe something to eat. Thank god.

"What do you mean, kill him? Honey, where are you from? You're not from Green Valley then?"

At this point, I couldn't help it. I poured out everything to her. I told her about the community, the Giver, the memories, the releasing, everything. It all came out so fast. I couldn't help it though, I really couldn't. But what else was I supposed to say? It wouldn't make sense if I didn't tell her about everything. None of it would make sense. It needed to make sense.

She sat there, stunned almost. For a second I thought she wasn't going to say anything. But I really hoped she would. I needed her too. I needed her. She continued to feed Gabe, rocking him in her arms. I could tell she was helping, whatever she was feeding him. Gabe was moving more, making the sounds that he used too. Thank god.

"Oh my. Hmmm. Yes. Yes, yes. We always wondered if someone would ever come. In a way, we've been waiting for you dear. Welcome."

Waiting for me? Me? How would they know about me? What did she mean? I think she could tell how confused I was due to my silence. My mind was racing at a million miles per hour, all though I could say nothing. Me? Waiting?

She could tell I didn't understand. She continued, "I know exactly where you're from. Honey, years ago we tried to help you. All of you. All of your community, I mean."

"You know about my community?"

"Yes. Years ago, when I was a little girl, we had a Mayor who was just awful. We didn't know he was so awful in the beginning. But as time went on, his true colors showed. He loved power. He tried controlling the town, us, in ways mayors have never tried before. We're a little town you see, Green Valley, but we have neighboring towns whose population largely outnumbers us. He wanted to control those towns too. No one would let him though. He didn't like it, not at all. Long story short, him and his followers left one day. We never saw them again. To be honest, people were relived. I know I was. He had terrible plans for the city, but he knew we weren't going to comply with his devilish ways. A few years down the road, we found out about your community. Someone stumbled upon it because builders wanted to expand. Your community was built from the Mayor. He and various scientists and other leaders produced a way to bring people into your community, and from there on out repopulate, and thus your town was born. He was in charge. He was in charge of who was there, who wasn't, who worked as what, etc. He had complete control. Something he couldn't possess here."

"But… you said you tried to help us? How?"

"It's very complicated. And I can tell I am already confusing you enough. Long story short, we tried to take him down. We wanted to set you all free, you deserved to have a life. To have your life. A life where you chose what happens and what you do. You deserved the real world. But he was too powerful and too smart. He had an army of people defending the town. We knew there was no way to communicate with those of you within the community. He was too smart in cutting off all communication ties. We had no choice but to let time tell what happened. We wanted to help but couldn't. And that's why we always wondered. We always wondered if one day someone would escape. And here you are. You're the one who escaped."

I was shocked. I was shocked at my life. Or… is it even my life? How did this happen? How do I help those still back at home? They need to find out what the real world is like she said! This is the real world, not back home. This elsewhere is the real world.

"I'm sorry hun… I don't think I ever got your name? I'm Jean. And it's a pleasure to meet you. I will help you get settled don't you worry. We will figure this out and you guys are welcome to stay with me. After all, it is Christmas tomorrow. No one should spend Christmas alone."

I replied, "Jonas… and that's Gabe. What… What do I do now? My mom, my dad, my sister even, they're all back in my community. We need to help them. We need to let them know my memories… They need to feel real life like you said! We can't let that mayor have them anymore."

She smiled. She smiled a soft smile at me. In a way, she smiled with her eyes too. Her eyes and mouth made a slight, comforting smile at me. But for some reason I felt that a smile was not appropriate for this conversation.

Why is she happy? My family is back there, we needed to help them. My mind then stopped. Did she understand that? I looked around. The glistening lights, sparkling on the tree. The colors. Oh the colors. They were everywhere, and she saw them too. Gabe would now know them. The warmth; the house was so warm. And her smile, that was warm too. I didn't know what I needed to do now. I didn't know what life held in store for Gabe or I. But I now knew that Jean was going to help. She knew what needed to be done. She knew that I needed to help Mom and Dad and everyone. After all, she has been waiting for me. I guess they all have.

Most of all, I knew that she knew love. For some strange reason, I feel like she already loved me in that moment. And in some strange way, I loved her back. For Gabe and I, this was home now; and hopefully soon it would be home for my friends and family too. So in this moment, I let my mind rest. I let my mind rest because I made it. Gabe and I made it. I think about the Giver, he would be so proud of me. He would be proud of me that I made it. Maybe this will be home for him too sometime soon.

So in this moment, knowing all of this, I smiled back at Jean.


End file.
